Reciprocity
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Companion piece to "Forgiveness in Unlikely Places". Set as a post-ep to Season Five's "Reckoner". What happens when the shoe is on the other foot and David Rossi needs comfort?
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: This story is a companion to "Forgiveness in Unlikely Places". You don't need to read it to follow the storyline, but some might enjoy it. This is set post-ep "Reckoner". I hope you enjoy it. As always, thanks to a wonderful co-author, beta and friend, tonnie2001969. You know you rock, girl! And also, thanks to Mingsmommy for the read through. Your insights were invaluable.**_

**Reciprocity**

**Chapter One**

He'd been there for her, she reminded herself as she climbed out from behind the wheel of her black Prius. When the chips had been down and her world had seemed to be falling around her, he'd been there. She owed him this.

But the question was, what was _this_? Was it comfort? Solace? What, Prentiss?

Biting her lip as she eyed the deck he'd found her on so many months ago, she didn't know what she hoped she could bring David Rossi. She only knew that she owed it to him, and herself, to try and repay the debt. And tonight, the note was due. He needed her as much as she'd needed him that long ago night when her demons had threatened to trump her sanity.

Walking slowly forward, the thick gravel crunching under her feet, she wondered how many times she'd been here over the intervening months. She'd stopped keeping a tally long ago. He'd never seemed to mind that she found a small measure of comfort in his presence or that this patch of beautiful land seemed to calm the turmoil that still occasionally roiled inside her. He was a generous man, often offering her whatever serenity he could provide, no questions asked.

It wasn't romantic. It couldn't be, could it? That would mean that she'd be forced into breaking the rules. And not just the rules that the Bureau had set forth either. She had her own internal code that guarded her heart, lest she ever again experience the pain that had marred her formative years. And above everything, Emily Prentiss had learned the valuable lesson of protecting herself. Hell, this man, she thought looking toward the dimly lit house standing against the waning sun, he was the only one she'd allowed to slip past the formidable defenses she'd built around herself in the past twenty-five years.

Countless times, she'd doubted the wisdom of that action. Luckily, however, Rossi had never asked for more than she'd been able to give. He'd offered an ear...become a sounding board...and occasionally provided her a bed - alone - when she'd drank one too many glasses of the wine he kept especially for her.

And now, he needed someone. Maybe not her. But, she'd watched that haunted look take over his eyes on the plane ride home. She remembered that look. Understood it. Every so often, it was the image she found staring back at her from the mirror. And there was no way she could allow him to endure the emotions that accompanied that particular look alone.

Reaching the top of the wooden deck, Emily inhaled the fragrant warm air deeply, the scent from the honeysuckle on the vines edging his property pervading her nostrils. Raising her hand, she forced it to curl and knock against the glass window of his back door, the sound shattering the stillness around her. Waiting a moment and hearing nothing from inside the house, she sighed, rapping again against the pane of glass. "I know you're in there, Rossi! You should have hidden your truck if you didn't want people to know you were home," she called through the closed door, trying to peer through the frosted glass for any signs of life.

Waiting a moment more, she felt the first tentacles of fear wrapping around her heart as she yelled, determinedly, "We both know that I'm not above breaking and entering, Dave."

Listening closely as a hoot owl voiced its disapproval in the distance, she finally heard his heavy footsteps making their way toward her through the closed door. Releasing a relieved breath as she saw his familiar dark head through the cloudy glass, she watched him drop a glass tumbler against the kitchen table as he ambled toward the back door.

And then he was filling the doorway, his unique woodsy scent tantalizing her nose. "Prentiss," he muttered with a shake of his dark head, turning away without inviting her inside. "I should have known."

"Why, thank you, Rossi," Emily murmured sweetly, "I'd love to come in," she continued, stepping into the kitchen and closing the door behind her.

"Suit yourself," Dave mumbled to the floor, retrieving his half-filled tumbler of scotch from the table and taking a heavy sip.

"That helping?" Emily asked, quirking an eyebrow as she watched his Adam apple bob as he swallowed the amber fluid.

"It ain't hurting," Dave replied, his words low in the quiet kitchen. Jerking his eyes up, he asked, voice tired, "Why're you here, Prentiss?"

"Do I need a reason to be here?" Emily asked lightly, frowning as she noted the lines bracketing his weary eyes.

"Emily," Dave drawled, "I've noticed that you usually have a reason for everything you do. I don't think now is the exception to that rule," he added, lifting his glass in a salute.

"Maybe I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," Emily shrugged, tossing her car keys on the granite counter as she propped her hip against the edge.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Dave grunted, turning to glare at her, the fluorescent kitchen lights outlining his obvious displeasure.

"Do I really need to answer that?" Emily asked impatiently, her irritation evident in her voice. "We DID just work the same case, didn't we?"

"I'm fine," Dave snorted, lifting his glass to his lips again, the amber liquid sliding down his throat with practiced ease.

Trying to ignore the way his lips caressed the glass, Emily shook her head. "Yeah, you're doing about as well as I was when you found me half-frozen on your deck a few months ago."

Lips tightening as he glared at her, Dave reverted to type in an effort to protect himself. "I haven't tried to kill myself yet on your property. Talk about unforgiveable sins..."

Gasping slightly at his full frontal attack, Emily's eyes widened. "Low, even for you, Rossi," Emily hissed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest, subconsciously guarding more than just her heart.

"Haven't you heard, Prentiss? I'm a bastard," Dave smiled grimly as he reached for the bottle of scotch on the kitchen table, his every intention to bury his feelings below the dulling alcohol.

"Undeniably," Emily agreed, her nimble hand sweeping the bottle beyond his grasp. "And this," she said, holding up the bottle of aged scotch, two fingers wrapped around the thick neck, "won't help."

"I'm not looking for fucking help, Emily," Dave bit out bitterly, his eyes drawn to the heavy bottle. "I'm looking to fucking forget!"

"And going on a bender will do that for you?" Emily retorted. "We both know that isn't the healthiest escape. And when you sober up, you'll have to face all the same memories. So, do us both a favor and face them now, Dave. Let me help you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Reciprocity**

**Chapter Two**

Gazing across the room at her, his dark heated gaze clashed with her serene stare. "You aren't willing to give me the kind of help I need, Emily. That's part of the fucking problem. I'm repeating my past here and you can't even fucking open your eyes and see it," he said, his words rapping out with the force of bullets.

"Then explain it to me," Emily urged, trying to gain some insight into the tightlipped man that had been occupying her thoughts for more time than she liked to admit. "Even the best profilers need a clue every now and then." Standing stock still, Emily watched Dave fight a silent battle with himself as the central air quietly hummed in the background.

Inhaling deeply, Dave shook his head, his eyes darkening even more. "Do us both a favor here, Emily. Go home."

"You didn't desert me when that priest screwed with my mind, Dave," Emily replied quietly, taking a small step forward, one hand barely reaching out, "and I'm not going to leave you here to face Emma's ghost alone either."

Wincing as she mentioned his long lost love, Dave whispered, his jaw tightening, "Ancient history. That part of my life has been over for a long time, Emily."

"It's never quite as far behind us as we'd like to think though, is it?" Emily asked knowingly, watching the emotions play across his dark face, the kitchen lights playing off his dark features.

Sighing heavily, Dave thrust his hands into the pockets of his jeans, drawing the denim material tight over his strong thighs. "Maybe not. But I've always been a firm believer that the past needs to stay in the past where it belongs. No matter how many times you rehash it, it doesn't change, so why bother?"

"Because your past and present converged today," Emily reminded him gently, easing another step closer as she leaned against the island, her hip resting just against the edge.

"In more ways than one," Dave muttered darkly, dropping his gaze to the tiled floor, the crossing lines of the grout drawing his attention for that moment.

"Talk about it, Dave," Emily prodded, remembering those moments in the past when he had encouraged her with that same statement.

"What the hell am I supposed to say, Emily?" he asked harshly, eyes jerking up to glare in her direction. "That I got an old friend killed last night? That I feel like I lost Emma all over again? That the past didn't teach me not to make the same fucking mistake? What damn it?"

"First, you didn't get your friend killed. An unsub killed your friend. Second, it's natural to mourn Emma Schueller, especially since I don't think you ever allowed yourself the opportunity to actually do it when she died. And third, what mistake is it that you think you're making again? Because if you know what it is, you can stop history from repeating, David," Emily said softly, reaching out a hand to lightly stroke his arm. Feeling the muscles tense beneath her fingertips, she watched his hands clench in his pockets. "You know I'll keep your secrets, Dave. You've kept enough of mine."

"Emily," Dave warned heavily, "You're trying to open a gate that I won't be able to close. Back off," he growled, glancing down into her earnest face. Catching his breath, he suspected those soft brown eyes of hers could see into his soul. And for the life of him, he was more than a little frightened that she'd balk at what she saw hidden there if she ever looked too hard. Some secrets were best left in the dark, never to see the light of day.

"Dave," Emily murmured, catching his sleeve quickly as he turned away from her, "you were there for me. When I needed a soft place to land, you caught me. Let me be there for you now."

"Emily," Dave began tightly, stiffening as her soft voice drifted over him, "I've worked really hard at just being your friend...never blurring the lines. But I'm still a man...and right now...I want to forget in one of two ways. So either hand me my bottle or start taking your clothes off."

Resisting the urge to gape at his stark words, Emily tilted her head as she tried to ignore the thrill low in her belly his words brought to her. She'd realized months ago that she was more than a little attracted to the mysterious man in front of her. Hell, he'd starred in every fantasy she'd imagined. But, until now, she wasn't sure those feelings had been reciprocated. She still wasn't. Meeting his eyes head on, she asked, evenly, "You think fucking me will honestly take the edge off what you're feeling right now, Dave? Remember, I'm not her."

"I think it'll give me something a lot more pleasurable to concentrate on," he countered, staring at the wall in front of him blindly, his fists clenched tightly. "And I'm well aware of who you are, Emily. I have been for months...hence my foray into the world of nobility and honor."

"You sound like those words were laced with arsenic," Emily commented, smiling faintly as she saw his stance relax slightly, his shoulders relaxing an inch.

"They do have a foreign flavor. I'm not exactly known for either," Dave grunted, hating that his words hadn't sent her running for cover. He should have known better. Emily Prentiss had proven countless times that she was no coward. Not even when she should have been. He'd been doing everything he could to protect her for months. And he'd done a pretty damn good job. Except he couldn't protect her from her biggest threat of all. Himself.

"Emily, just go home," he ordered hoarsely as he turned to face her again, sternly reminding himself to avoid the beauty of her eyes. But no matter how he tried, he found himself being drawn into that dark vortex, sinking ever so slightly even more.

Slowly lifting her hands to the buttons of her shirt, she shook her head. "No," she said softly, slipping a button from a loophole, her fingers sliding ever so slightly more. "I distinctly remember you giving me two options thirty seconds ago. And neither of them was going home. Trust me, I listened very closely."

Watching, dry mouthed, as she freed the last button, her shirt parting to reveal a simple cream bra, Dave shook his head as he felt his body reacting to that beautiful sight. "Emily," he whispered huskily, his eyes glued to her smooth porcelain skin, "what..."

Stepping forward quickly, Emily pressed a lone finger to his full lips as she whispered, "I can help you forget tonight. We can help each other."


	3. Chapter 3

**Reciprocity**

**Chapter Three**

Even as her words hung in the air between them, Dave knew there was no way he'd ever relegate an instant of this to the dim recesses of his memory. It would always be at the forefront. Tempting him, taunting him...beckoning him with a siren's call. Parting his lips slightly, he drew the tip of her finger into his mouth, swirling his tongue against the soft skin as he watched her slight gasp. "I'm going to want more than just tonight, Emily," he warned as he bent forward to whisper against her ear.

"We'll talk about tomorrow when it comes," Emily said with a shiver as his hot breath fanned her neck, her skin prickling at the mere contact.

Backing her against the granite countertop, Dave wrapped his hands around Emily's narrowed hips, lifting her up easily. "Procrastinating, Emily? You realize, we're only delaying an inevitable conversation," he murmured against her lips, his hands settling possessively against her firm body.

"All the baggage we have is still going to be waiting after we do this," Emily countered, attacking the buttons of his shirt with vigor before her mind could convince her heart to slow down. "I say, we ease the ache first," she suggested huskily, planting a wet kiss against his corded neck as he fingers threaded through the short dark hairs on the back of his neck.

Dropping his mouth to hers, Dave kissed her ravenously, desperately, pouring every need and want he'd ever had into that deep, intimate connection. And damn, if she didn't meet each thrust of his tongue with one of her own, overtaking him more than once. Submissive, Emily Prentiss was not. Feeling the smooth glide of her tongue against his, he cradled her neck, deepening the contact as his lips ate hers, memorizing her sweet, unique taste. Always a demanding lover, his primal nature reared as one shapely leg pulled him closer.

Dave's calloused fingers slid up Emily's bare leg, raising her simple black skirt to bunch around her hips in a sweeping motion as the other popped the fastening on her simple bra, releasing her breasts to rub erotically against his chest. "Jesus," he rasped, reaching her satin underwear and finding it drenched, "You're already ready for me, Emily," he growled between biting kisses to her neck as his fingers danced along the wet seam of her barely-there panties.

Moaning as his knuckle brushed the material above the slick bundle of nerve endings at her apex, Emily bucked in his arms. Reaching for the button of his jeans, Emily's eyes dropped to where he strained against the denim material. "You're not exactly lagging, Rossi," she whispered, her sultry voice wreaking havoc on his senses.

Lowering the zipper of his jeans carefully as his hand cupped one of her aroused breasts in his warm hand, Emily gasped. Gripping him, one though pervaded all...it was like holding steel encased with velvet. Heavy and hard, his tip wept as she swiped her thumb gently over him.

"Like what you see?" Dave grunted as he leaned forward to tug a stiffened nipple between his lips and her hand slid torturously over his length.

"Love what I see," Emily replied with a smoky chuckle, swiping her thumb across his head again and pulling a raw groan from his lips. Trying to smile against the amazing pleasure he was creating, she asked, "The question is, do you like how it feels?"

"Love how it feels," Dave breathed, bending his head to conquer her lips again. Wrapping his fingers around the elastic band of her panties, he tugged sharply, rending the flimsy material.

"Hey!" Emily yelped, tearing her lips from his as she stared at her ruined undies. "Those were expensive," she admonished gently as he slid them off the end of his finger, letting them fall ungracefully to the tiled floor.

"Buy you new ones," Dave muttered, biting her neck as he reached for the wallet in his sagging jeans.

Wrapping her legs around his waist as the cool counter slid against her ass, Emily pulled him closer. Moaning as his hard length slid against her saturated folds, she arched against him, trying to prolong the contact, craving that amazing feeling she knew would be coming soon.

Dropping a hand to her waist, Dave stilled her seductive movements. "Protection, Cara," he hissed, grimacing as white hot pleasure bit into him when she moved against him again, her wet folds torturing him.

Raking her fingers through the matted hair on his chest, she pursed her lips. "Hurry," she ordered, pressing a kiss to his throat.

Grasping his wallet with desperate fingers, he flipped it open one handed, searching for that elusive plastic packet as his lips danced across her breasts. Finally finding the familiar disc, Dave drew his lips away from Emily's body. Breathing heavily, a hand braced on either side of her, he met her fiery gaze. "Last chance, Emily. We won't be able to undo this once it happens."

Nodding mutely as she steadily returned his dark stare, she reached for the condom he held between his fingertips. Ripping the plastic, her eyes never wavered from his as she drew him into her hand and sheathed him quickly. "I choose you," she said softly, yet firmly.

Pulling her hips to the edge of the counter, Dave rolled his hips forward, slowly sinking into her in a slow measured stroke. "God, Emily," he breathed raggedly, cupping her neck to drag her mouth to his. Thrusting gently into her snug warmth he caught her soft moans with his mouth, deepening their kiss as his other hand fondled her breast, pinching the swollen nipple between his fingertips. Groaning deeply as she lifted her hips against him, he whispered violently against her neck, "Jesus, you feel amazing wrapped around me like this! So fucking tight!"

Attacking her neck with tender love bites as she dropped her head back, he stroked a little harder, a bit deeper, pulling a powerful moan from her lips. Relishing the sound, he moved faster, dropping a hand between them, coating his fingers in her juices and rubbing light circles against her stiffened bud.

"God! David!" Emily keened, riding him harder as his fingers moved quickly over her, seeming to touch her everywhere at once. "More," she begged, shifting her fingers underneath his shirt to bury her nails in the muscles of his back.

Groaning as he angled her trim body back on the counter, he thanked God that her desire matched his need. Pumping into her willing body, his jaw clenched and white hot shards of pleasure dug into his back as her body contracted around his, every stroke he made coaxing them both toward the edge. He dropped his head to watch her breasts heave as she matched him movement for movement, advancing as he retreated.

"Fuck!" he bit out as she quivered against him, tiny contractions already building inside her. "Open your eyes, Emily. I want to watch you cum for me," he demanded, his voice a rumble of sound in a room filled with her keening moans. In the bright, unyielding light of his kitchen, he watched as she forced her heavy lids open, staring deeply into his eyes as her pupils dilated and tremors suffused her.

Tightening his hand around her hip as she reached her peak, Dave surged into her heat, her body caressing his in a way no other woman's ever had. Growling low in his throat, he felt his release overwhelm him with a force that rivaled the strongest tidal wave, pleasure raining down on him in torrential sheets. "God!" he gasped harshly, collapsing against her prone body as her hands soothed him. "Jesus, Emily!" he panted, pressing a kiss to her sweaty throat as she tightened her arms around him. "So good, Cara mia," he whispered huskily, covering her lips for a reverent kiss.

Straightening as he reluctantly broke the intimate contact, Dave pulled a still trembling Emily into his arms smoothing her sensible skirt around her toned thighs. "We really have to talk now, Emily," Dave murmured against her damp temple.

"I had a feeling you'd say something like that," Emily nodded, closing her eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to her hair.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Okay, guys, one more chapter after this. Do you want to see more Rossi/Prentiss? Review and let me know what you think!**

**Reciprocity**

**Chapter Four**

"Give me a second," he whispered, turning to dispose of the condom. Returning a second later, Dave watched Emily try to school her features into an unreadable mask. "Don't do that," he murmured, steadying her as she shimmied of the counter, buttoning her shirt with trembling fingers.

"What?" she asked faintly, her mind still spinning, awed by what had been the single most powerful sexual experience of her life. God, she'd let him watch her. She never let anyone watch her, always insisting the lights be dimmed or closing her eyes at that vulnerable moment. Guarding herself, her privacy, her soul had always been her mantra. But she'd allowed him to see her...really see her. It was...disconcerting.

"You're hiding," Dave said quietly, staring down at her, easily reading the tell-tale signs in her shuttered eyes.

"I'm standing right here, Dave. If I'm hiding, I'm not doing a very good job, am I?" Emily retorted, raising her arms slightly at her sides, letting them fall loosely in the face of his relentless stare.

"Don't be glib," Dave rumbled, the simple words filling the otherwise quiet kitchen. "It doesn't suit you."

"Sorry," Emily muttered grudgingly. Evidently, her sarcastic wit wasn't going to assist her tonight. David Rossi would plow right through her reflexive shield quicker than any Klingon battle cruiser.

Sighing as she shifted uneasily in front of him, Dave curled an arm around her narrow waist, his hand falling possessively to her firm hip. "Let's go sit down and talk, Emily. I think there are some things you need to understand that I haven't exactly been forthcoming about," he softly said, guiding her toward the great room.

Pulling her down in his lap into the oversized recliner facing the bay window, Dave felt her stiffen slightly in his arms. "Emily," Dave said gently, his fingers sliding against her leg as he halted any escape, "I just made love to you on my kitchen counter. I'm fairly certain it's permissible for me to hold you now, isn't it?"

Relaxing marginally as she leaned into his arms, Emily swallowed tightly, nodding. "I...I'm not exactly used to this part of the program," she admitted, trying to keep the nervous tremble from her voice as she let her shoulder rest against his. God, Prentiss! Pull yourself together, she ordered herself sternly. Get a damn grip on this situation before it spins entirely out of control, she coached herself.

"Exactly what part of the program are you referring to, Emily?" Dave asked, tightening his arms as he felt her attempting to edge away, her legs shifting restlessly against his.

"Oh, the get there, get laid, and get out philosophy that most of my former lovers subscribed to," Emily replied, attempting to keep her voice light and failing miserably.

"Well, first, there's the obvious negation of your theory," Dave chuckled, sweeping a hand under her long silky mane to cup her warm neck. "We're in my house. Leaving really isn't an option for me. Or you either, for that matter. Second, I don't happen to consider what happened between us as 'getting laid'. We both know it goes a hell of a lot deeper than that even if only one of us will admit it. And third, getting out would signify this as a one-time event. And that's the last thing I want it to be."

"Wh-what?" Emily faltered, swinging her gaze to collide with his, swallowing convulsively as she tried to match the words she had just heard with what she knew had to be truth. And none of them were meshing. None!

"Shocked?" Dave asked with raised eyebrows. "Really? You shouldn't be."

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked, shifting on his lap to look at him, drawing her shoulders back in defense. "You needed comfort and I provided it," she said tightly, desperate to not let his soft words corrode her emotional dam. She'd spent years painstakingly fortifying the structure. She refused to let one powerful fuck detonate a bomb eradicating her defenses.

"You think that's why I took what you were offering, Emily? That I wanted to use you to forget another woman?" Dave asked quietly, his obsidian gaze narrowing on her paling face as his fingers rubbed against her smooth skin.

"It's been done before...and I wasn't an unwilling participant. You don't need to dress it up in pretty words to make me feel better, Dave. I'm a big girl," Emily said flatly, keeping her voice level even as she fought the earthquake rising in her thoughts.. One tremor and she'd betray her precarious emotional state to him. There was no way she could give anyone, even this man, the means to exploit her weaknesses.

"Son of a bitch," Dave sighed heavily, dropping his head back against the buttery leather of the recliner as his gaze clashed with hers. "Do you have to make everything so incredibly difficult, Prentiss?"

"I'm not the one attempting to change the status quo here, Dave," Emily countered with a shake of her dark head, congratulating herself on successfully navigating one grid of the minefield. "I'm the one saying we chalk this up to what it was."

"It's our impressions over exactly with this was that's creating a problem, Emily. I think we've got differing views," Dave replied darkly, dropping his chin.

"Imagine that," Emily muttered sarcastically, squirming out of his lap as she dropped her feet to the hardwood floor, her heels hitting with a plop.

Wrapping his hands easily around her hips and hauling her back against his chest, Dave ordered sharply, "Stop that. You aren't going to run away from this because I'm not going to let you. Every time things begin to become a little difficult...every time something goes out of your comfort zone, you bolt. Not tonight, Emily."

"Dave," Emily said warily, breathing deeply with every word, "I'm not sure where you think we're going with this discussion, but..."

"Damn it, Emily, don't you dare try to plead ignorance. You're too damned intelligent to even think I'd let you get away with it," Dave snapped, his tone deepening as he stared into her stone face. "Are you honestly going to sit here and deny what's been developing over these last several months between us?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Reciprocity**

**Chapter Five**

"Dave," Emily said calmly, holding tightly to the emotional control that she knew would be her salvation, "I know you're emotional right now, so I'm just going to..."

"-shut your mouth and listen," Dave replied evenly, cutting her off completely without any apologies. "You're right," Dave began softly, "I am emotional. This case brought up a lot of feelings I've chosen to ignore over the years. I loved Emma, Emily."

Great, exactly what she wanted to hear after making love to a man in his kitchen - undying professions of his love for another woman, Emily thought bitterly, the acid eating away at her heart. Well hell, this is why she'd come, wasn't it? So he could purge the feelings he'd had locked inside her. She only wished she'd comprehended how incredibly painful this would be. Noticing he'd become silent, she cleared her throat and said, evenly and controlled, "I realize that, Dave."

"But you assume my heart's in the grave with her," Dave returned, tightening his hand against her hip as he felt her stiffen. "But, what you don't understand is that more than Emma, what I mourn is the fact that it was just another in a long line of wonderful opportunities I turned my back on. And what I hate even more than that is the fact that I recognize you doing the same damn thing."

"Pardon?" Emily retorted sharply, straightening in his arms, her hackles rising as she wondered how he dared to condemn her.

"You close yourself off the same damn way I have for years. You try to protect yourself from potential pain and miss what's right in front of your nose," Dave continued steadily, his eyes drawn to her flashing gaze, recognizing the signs of rebellion and escape flying through her pupils..

"I'm sorry. But the last thing I came here for was to be profiled, Rossi," Emily ground out, jerking from his lap in a sudden movement, her feet hitting the ground with sudden purpose.

"And now that I've said something you don't want to deal with," Dave sighed, shaking his head as he leaned forward in the recliner, the heavy furniture tilting with the movement, "You're going to revert to type and run," Dave said, measuring her with an assessing eyes. "Heads up, Prentiss," he added, eyes gleaming, "This time, I'll be right behind you," he warned easily.

"God," Emily said, disgustedly shaking her head as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest, "Your arrogance knows no bounds, does it?"

"That wasn't arrogance talking, Cara. That was simply a statement of fact," Dave replied, settling back in the recliner as he stared into her flashing eyes. "I've invested way too much time in and with you to let you walk away now."

"Huh?" Emily grunted, taking a step back, his honesty as dangerous as any armed felon she had ever faced in the past.

Tilting his head, Dave smirked at her attempted retreat, "You're a smart girl, Emily. You'll figure it out. Take a moment. Process."

Eyes widening at the condescension in his tone, Emily narrowed her eyes. "Wait. Are you saying....these past months...you weren't trying to build a friendship with me? That you had THIS," she growled, sweeping her hand between them, her hand open wide, "as an ulterior motive?"

"Of course I wanted to deepen our friendship," Dave muttered, running a hand down his face, sighing as he pushed forward. "Hell, Emily, if I'd have wanted just a fuck from you, I could have had that the night I found you here, vulnerable and alone. I wanted more. I've always wanted more. I was trying to give you time to want it, too."

"Who says that I didn't?" Emily replied without giving her mind time to monitor her mouth's words, the thought flowing out like water.

Leaning forward in his chair, Dave reached out to capture one of her chilled hands, tugging her toward him as he rose from his seat. "You have. Every time I moved a step to close...you bolted. Until tonight."

"You needed me," Emily said simply, averting eyes filled with unshed tears. She would not cry. She wouldn't! She couldn't let that emotional honesty rear its ugly head. Not tonight.

"I've always needed you, Emily," Dave denied, negating her excuse in a simple statement. "So, I ask again, why tonight?" he repeated insistently, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Because I couldn't stay away," Emily spat suddenly, the urge to bear her heart greater than the desire to hide. "There! Are you happy now that you have my little confession? I knew you were in pain and I couldn't stay away."

"It isn't an admission of guilt, Emily," Dave stood quickly, pulling her reluctant body against his as he whispered against her temple. "It isn't a sin to care about someone...to love someone."

Resting her cheek against his bare chest, his steady heartbeat thumping against her ear, Emily's fingers fisted in the edges of his parted shirt. "You don't know what you're asking me for, Dave," Emily whispered as she felt his sure hands sweeping up and down her back.

"A chance, Emily," Dave said softly against her hair, slipping roaming fingers underneath the edge of her cotton blouse. "I'm asking you to give us a chance to create something wonderful between us. You're already halfway there. You trusted me with your body. You can do the same with your heart, can't you?"

"It's not as easy as simply trusting you, Dave. I've always trusted you. I just don't know if..."

"I know, Emily. I know we can do this together," Dave murmured, smoothing gentle fingers down her fragile spine. "We've been doing it for months. You just didn't realize it."

Eyes falling closed as his hands soothed her, she leaned more heavily against him, his strong body propping her up. She'd be nine kinds of a coward not to take the chance he was offering her, visions of a future with this man tempting her. And after all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lifting her head to meet his eyes, she swallowed as the words crept out of her throat. "You're the only man I could ever imagine trying this with."

"Is that a yes?" Dave asked, needing to hear the affirmation, unwilling to allow his heart to soar until he heard her clearly voice the words.

"That's a yes," Emily breathed an instant before his lips slid against hers, claiming her once again. And in her heart, she knew she'd made the right choice.

Her future ….no, both of their futures….would no longer be sacrificed to the missed chances of the past.

**FINIS**


End file.
